E Is For Desire
by svvya
Summary: Albus reflects on a lost love after he explains to Harry how the Mirror of Erised can drive people mad. Albus should know, it was happening to himself. AlbusxGrindlewald Oneshot


First Harry Fic in a while. This is just a short thing that I kept thinking about. I know in the book, Dumbledore answers Harry's question quickly, but I added a pause for dramatic effect. I only mention the romance really once, but it's implied. If you don't like the DxG pairing, just think of it as strong friendship or whatever... Though I don't why you would be reading this if you're opposed to the pairing, anyway. I want to write a DxG chapter fic, and will someday. Don't hold your breath though. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the Characters belong to JK Rowling.

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"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

Albus Dumbledore looked at Harry Potter through his half moon spectacles and considered not answering his question. What a personal thing to ask, what he saw in the Mirror of Erised. But the boy was only eleven- A young first year- How could he know how much this question would hurt the headmaster.

Maybe Albus owed the boy an answer. If it wasn't for Harry Potter, he would still be sitting in front of the mirror and dwelling over the past.

He could see the boy growing uneasy at his silence, but he still didn't answer. He didn't know how to.

Albus sighed softly and glanced over at the mirror. Luckily it was at the wrong angle and he couldn't see himself, or his greatest desire, in it's reflection.

When Harry walked through the door that first night, it was Albus's saving grace. He was so startled he had to move away from the mirror and, after a few more nights of seeing Harry return, he realized what the mirror did to a person. He knew before, of course, but every time he came to stare into the mirror for hours, he convinced himself he didn't have a problem. That dwelling over things that could never be was not what what was happening to him. That he just wanted to see what the mirror showed him _one more time_...

However, now he had to admit that he did have a problem, and it was what was happening to him. When Harry Potter continued to look in the mirror night after night, Albus knew he was looking at himself. He had done the same thing. That led him to realize his selfish desires (that's just what they were, weren't they?) were causing the students to be in danger. If Harry, who admittedly had a lot more to wish for than most people, could be caught in the mirror's spell, then so could any other student. Even though it pained him to do so, Albus knew he had to move the mirror, and he told Harry so.

"I?" Dumbledore finally answered. He smiled the false smile he had perfected over the years, and had to pull out on special occasions. "I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."

Harry stared at him, and Albus realized that sounded far-fetched. While it was something he wanted, how could socks be anyone's greatest desire? However, he continued:

"One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books." The boy left, and Albus moved in front of the mirror one last time.

His heart ached as it always did when he gazed upon the scene, and his false smile dropped away.

The Albus staring back at him was much younger, a teenager still. His laughing face matched the expression of the other boy in the mirror. The boy Albus came to see. Gellert Grindlewald and Albus each had an arm over the other's shoulder, and looked like they were both in on some amazing joke. Their eyes sparkled in a way the real Albus envied.

Albus leaned closer to the mirror before he could stop himself. He could have had that- More than that, even. _For the Greater Good_ ran through his head, and his sister's face flashed into his mind, but sometimes he still wished...

Before he really did pull away from the mirror for good, Albus, with his eyes fixed on his lost love, whispered, "I think I did the right thing... But some days I'm not so sure." His fingers grazed the surface of the mirror and he turned away from it with a long, heavy sigh. He walked out of the room and knew: While he could leave the mirror, the picture it showed would never disappear from his mind.


End file.
